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Trump Orders Moon Reactor Designs by 2028 for Permanent Base

4/17/2026

25 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump directed NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Pentagon to design reactors for lunar orbit by 2028 and the moon by 2030.
The effort backs a permanent moon base to advance space exploration, per a White House memo.
Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute questions the timeline, noting Earth-based microreactor demonstrations by 2028 would be challenging.
Pentagon is to report progress within 90 days.

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Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump directed NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Pentagon to design reactors for lunar orbit by 2028 and the moon by 2030.
The effort backs a permanent moon base to advance space exploration, per a White House memo.
Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute questions the timeline, noting Earth-based microreactor demonstrations by 2028 would be challenging.
Pentagon is to report progress within 90 days.